| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Ainsworth 2013 | Not a self‐help intervention; intervention print‐based, but aimed at faith leaders to effect change in their communities |
| Armitage 2008a | Follow‐up only 2 months |
| Armitage 2008b | Follow‐up only 1 month; intervention borderline for inclusion |
| Arnold 2009 | Follow‐up only 1 month |
| Balanda 1999 | Follow‐up only 1 month after provision of 1 of 2 self‐help guides to quitline callers; no differences found between groups |
| Bansal‐Travers 2010 | Only 1 month's follow‐up; all participants received NRT and counselling |
| Barnett 2015 | Intervention group also received counselling |
| Brandon 2000 | Only recent quitters recruited; included in Cochrane Review of relapse prevention (Hajek 2013) |
| Brandon 2004 | Only recent quitters recruited; included in Cochrane Review of relapse prevention (Hajek 2013) |
| Brandon 2012 | Relapse prevention intervention |
| Brown 1992 | Both arms received S‐H materials; test of telephone counselling; included in Cochrane Review of telephone counselling (Stead 2013b) |
| Burling 2000 | Evaluated an internet‐based intervention; previously included in review but not in meta‐analysis; falls within scope of separate Cochrane protocol (Koshy 2008) |
| Carré 2008 | Short follow‐up; not primarily directed at cessation |
| Conway 2004 | Intervention targeted at relapse prevention (see Edwards 1999) |
| Curry 1988 | Compares self‐help materials with a relapse prevention approach vs abstinence‐based approach; now included in relapse prevention review (Hajek 2013) |
| Dijkstra 1998b | Follow‐up only 4 months (6 weeks from last contact for multiple tailored letters condition) Study compared combinations of tailored letters and a self‐help guide for a population of smokers not planning to quit |
| Dijkstra 2001 | Follow‐up only 3 months; compares different types of information in self‐help materials |
| Dijkstra 2005 | Not a structured S‐H intervention; outcome is "quitting activity" at 4 months. Participants were students recruited to evaluate smoking cessation messages |
| Dijkstra 2006 | Outcome is change in stage ‐ not abstinence |
| Dijkstra 2009 | Field study testing function of disengagement beliefs; numbers abstinent not reported |
| Edwards 1999 | Intervention directed at relapse prevention in female naval recruits required to quit smoking during basic training; included in review of relapse prevention interventions (Hajek 2013) |
| Emmons 2013 | Does not test self‐help; self‐help served as control for more intensive intervention |
| Etter 2007 | Intervention provided information about additives in cigarettes; focus on motivating rather than assisting quitting |
| Fortmann 1995 | Excluded from 2018 update because study of relapse prevention |
| Garcia 2000 | Trial of group therapy‐based interventions; self‐help manuals provided in addition to group therapy to test effect of therapist contact; included in Cochrane Group Therapy Review (Stead 2017) |
| Gritz 1988 | No control group |
| Hall 2003 | Smoking cessation not an outcome |
| Jeffery 1982 | No long‐term follow‐up; control was a group programme |
| Jeffery 1990 | Compared the offer of a self‐help programme at a nominal cost vs the same programme for a USD60 payment, refundable if successful. Rate of recruitment to the incentive programme very low (9 participants, 0.09% of households randomly assigned to receive the incentive option) |
| Johs 2003 | No long‐term follow‐up |
| Jordan 1999 | Only 3 months' follow‐up planned; comparison of an internet‐based programme vs ALA printed manuals; 54 participants |
| Killen 1990 | Excluded from 2018 update because study of relapse prevention |
| Kreuter 1996 | Intervention provided single page of cessation information for participants who were smokers (22%) and interested in quitting; not a self‐help intervention by the criteria for this review (neither standard nor enhanced feedback increased quit rates over control) |
| Kreuter 2012 | Print materials not designed as self‐help; intention to increase number of people taking up referrals to specialist service |
| Lenert 2004 | Not randomised; used consecutive series of participants |
| Lipkus 2004 | Self‐help was the control condition |
| McBride 1999 | Intervention included 3 proactive telephone calls in addition to provision of self‐help materials; no effect of the intervention was found |
| McDonald 2003 | Unpublished study; insufficient data to include |
| McDonnell 2011 | Does not test self‐help; self‐help served as control for more intensive intervention |
| McMahon 2000 | Tested incentives and social support as adjuncts to self‐help; included in Cochrane Review of support (Park 2004) |
| Meade 1989 | Compared smokers' ability to understand materials written at different grade levels; cessation was not an outcome |
| Moore 2002 | Participants were pregnant women |
| Murphy 2005 | Only 3 months' follow‐up; marginal to classify as self‐help intervention; provided information on access to pharmacotherapy and cessation support |
| Naughton 2012 | Does not test self‐help; self‐help served as control for more intensive intervention |
| NCT00714467 | Experimental variable is partner support ‐ not self‐help |
| NCT01566994 | No suitable control group for comparison |
| O'Hara 1993 | Follow‐up only 3 weeks after receipt of materials |
| Ossip‐Klein 1991 | Both arms received self‐help materials; test of hotline availability; included in Cochrane Review of telephone counselling (Stead 2013b) |
| Ossip‐Klein 1997 | Both arms received self‐help materials; test of telephone counselling; included in Cochrane Review of telephone counselling (Stead 2013b) |
| Pallonen 1998 | Intervention targeted for adolescents; 2 self‐help computer‐based interventions compared; included in a Cochrane Review of cessation interventions for adolescents and young people (Fanshawe 2017) |
| Pederson 1981 | Although this is described as a trial of behavioural self‐help manuals, treatment conditions included an introductory meeting and 2 further group meetings |
| Rimer 1994 | No long‐term follow‐up data reported in full |
| Russell 1979 | Leaflet used as an adjunct to physician advice did not meet study criteria for a structured self‐help intervention Smokers given the leaflet were also warned that they would be followed up Study found a non‐significant increase in the quit rate amongst participants who were given the leaflet in addition to advice, but including it would not alter the results of the MA, which found no effect of materials as an adjunct to advice |
| Sallis 1986 | Only 2 months' follow‐up; then wait‐list control offered treatment |
| Senesael 2013 | Multiple risk factor intervention recruiting only 7 smokers; unclear if smoking intervention met inclusion criteria |
| Shi 2013 | Does not test self‐help; self‐help served as control for more intensive intervention |
| Shiffman 2000 | Only 6 weeks' follow‐up; tested materials tailored to individual smokers, in addition to nicotine gum; compared to gum and standard written materials |
| Shiffman 2001 | Only 6 weeks' follow‐up; tested materials tailored to individual smokers, in addition to nicotine patches; compared to patches and standard written materials |
| Sims 2013 | Does not test self‐help; self‐help served as control for more intensive intervention |
| Song 2012 | Relapse prevention intervention |
| Stanczyk 2013 | Web‐based intervention |
| Strecher 1994 | Did not meet review criteria for self‐help materials Compared health letters tailored to individual recipient's smoking behaviour vs no intervention (Study 2) or a standardised health letter from a physician (an adaptation of NCI Quit for Good pamphlet addressing general benefits of and barriers to quitting smoking) (Study 1) Study 1 had less than 6 months' follow‐up |
| Strecher 2000 | Participants were pregnant women |
| Strecher 2005b | Short follow‐up |
| Strecher 2008 | Did not meet review criteria for self‐help materials; Web‐based programme |
| Te Poel 2009 | Web‐based intervention |
| Travis 2004 | Short follow‐up; self‐help was an adjunct to telephone counselling |
| Travis 2009 | Only 3 months' follow‐up |
| Ussher 2011 | Uncontrolled evaluation |
| Webb 2005 | Smoking status not a measured outcome |
| Webb 2007 | Smoking status not a measured outcome |
| Webb 2008 | Only 3 months' follow‐up |
| Webb 2009 | Only 3 months' follow‐up |
| Webb 2010 | Outcomes included risk perceptions, readiness to quit smoking, and smoking‐related knowledge ‐ not smoking cessation |
| Weissfeld 1991 | 'Self‐help' condition received several individual counselling sessions |
| Wetter 2011 | All groups received multiple group counselling sessions |
| Willemsen 1995 | Not a randomised trial |
| Windsor 1989 | All groups received the same self‐help intervention; differed on additional support or incentives |
| Zhu 1996 | All arms received self‐help materials; test of telephone counselling; included in Cochrane Review of telephone counselling (Stead 2013b) |
ALA: American Lung Association. MA: meta‐analysis. NCI: National Cancer Institute. NRT: nicotine replacement therapy.